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Auto accident near North Church St and Custer Ave. Reports are there are possibly two injured people and possibly wires down on one of the vehicles. Police are on scene. Emergency personnel are enroute. Please avoid the area.

The Beloit Police Department announces the arrest of Raynoldo Mendez, age 42, on a federal probation warrant out of Illinois and on a felony warrant for a second degree sexual assault of a child charge.

Mendez was taken into custody around 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 6, at a residence in the 1800 block of Harrison Avenue after the Beloit Police Department received a tip through the Greater Beloit Area Crime Stoppers about Mendez’s possible location.

The Beloit Police Department’s Violent Crime Interdiction Team and the U.S. Marshals Task Force worked together to arrest Mendez, who chose to come out of the residence’s basement.

No one was injured during the arrest. However, a member of the U.S. Marshals Task Force accidentally discharged a firearm in a direction that did not endanger anyone’s safety.

Single vehicle medical call along Elevator Rd just east of Roscoe Middle School. Police and an ambulance are on scene. Driver was responsive, but taken via ambulance to hospital for further evaluation.

Reports of the 100 block of South Main St in Rockford in both directions being closed. It sounds like there is a crane in the road doing some work in the area and it is supposed to only be one lane, but they are trying to figure that out. It is unknown on how long the road will be closed, but please find alternative routes if trying to travel in this area. If we hear anything more, we will post an update.

It was brought to our attention that a number of people were unable to hear the siren test yesterday, and when asked if they were indoors, many admitted they were in fact indoors when the test was going off, which would explain why they did not hear the sirens and is something we would like to spread awareness about…Tornado Sirens Are For OUTDOOR use only!

While on occassion you might be able to hear a siren test from inside, the odds are you might not and probably won’t hear it when an actually emergency is occurring. They were not intended for indoor use, only outdoor use, and the wind is a big player in that. If the wind is coming out of the right direction and is strong enough, you could never hear the siren.

This is why it is important to have multiple ways of receiving alerts; Weather Radio, Cellphone, TV, and a Radio are just a few of the things we highly suggest having. A weather radio, being the one of the most important!

In the perfect scenario, you might hear multiple sirens from across the county while you are outdoors, like in the video below. It was a relatively calm day, no interference was occurring from the wind, allowing you to hear a number of the sirens across Northern Winnebago County. On a windy day though, besides the siren that was less than a quarter of a mile from this location, the odds of hearing the other sirens are far less. If this same video were taken indoors in a quiet house, you still might hear the siren that is less than quarter of a mile away, but you would not hear the other sirens. Add your average house hold noise to the mix, you likely would not hear that siren. Your weather radio though would go off as well though, and is essentially your smoke alarm to severe weather.

You can pick up a weather radio today at your local Walmart or Walgreens for around $30. There maybe multiple kinds, the Midland WR120 works great! If you need help with programming your weather radio, we have shared a How To video below!

On Saturday, March 3, 2018, at approximately 4:00 a.m. a Rockford Police Officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle at Auburn Street and Sheridan Street. The Officer made contact with the male driver, 25 year-old Pierre McBride.

During the course of the traffic stop, officers saw suspected marijuana in the car and informed McBride they were going to search the car.

Officers had McBride get out of the car and while an Officer had a hold of McBride’s arm, McBride reentered the car and began to drive away. The accelerating car pulled the Officer about five feet before the Officer was able to let go. The car struck the Officer as it sped away, but the Officer was not injured.

McBride fled the area in the car and Officers pursued. A short time later, McBride crashed his car and fled on foot. Officers chased McBride on foot and caught him a short time later.

The investigation was reviewed by the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office. As a result, the listed charges were authorized against McBride and he was lodged in the Winnebago County Jail.

ARRESTED: Pierre McBride 25-years old Rockford, IL
CHARGES: Aggravated Battery to a Police Officer
Aggravated Fleeing
Resisting Arrest
The charges against McBride are merely accusations and not evidence of his guilt. As with defendants in all criminal cases, McBride is considered innocent unless proven guilty in court. No further details are available at this time. Further information will be released should it become available.

ROCKFORD, Ill. – On Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at 12:04 a.m., officers of the Rockford Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a speeding vehicle near the intersection of 11th Street and 15th Avenue. Upon speaking to the driver, officers could smell an odor of burnt cannabis coming from the interior of the vehicle.

During a search of the vehicle, officers located a handgun with an extended magazine hidden in a plastic bag in the rear seat area. Officers also located a small amount of crack cocaine in the vehicle as well.

As a result of the investigation, officers arrested the driver, Brooke Rogers, and the front seat passenger, Rahime Briggs.

ARRESTED: Briggs, Rahime S. 20 years old, Rockford
CHARGES: Armed Violence
Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon
Unlawful Use of a Weapon by a Felon
Violation of the Firearm Owner’s Identification Act
Possession of a Controlled Substance

The charges against these arrestees are merely accusations and not evidence of their guilt. As with defendants in all criminal cases, they are considered innocent unless proven guilty in court.

A statewide tornado drill will be conducted at 10 AM CST and a TEST tornado warning will be issued for all Illinois counties as part of the Severe Weather Awareness Week going on this week. At the same time, the NWS in Chicago will be conducting a socia media tornado drill and a one our long live questions and answer session. To see this live question and answer session, just got to their Twitter or Facebook page!

Report of a possible fire on on 1023 West Jefferson St. Caller is reporting she is locked out of her house and she sees smoke coming from her house. It is a two story, multi-family residents. Possible food left on stove. Still developing.

Update – 10:34 pm: Possible smoke due to just cooking, emergency crews on scene are investigating. Call has been downgraded to less vehicles responding now.

Edit: A fan said: Motorola provides computer modules designed specifically for law enforcement and squad cars…and they repair them. One of it’s national repair centers was in Rockford…I don’t know if it still is. It’s not likely Motorola is providing campaign money for encryption at all. That doesn’t make it any less sleazy though. Campaign donations like this…legal or not…are sleazy and promote an appearance of impropriety.

If that is the case, then WHY didn’t Motorola contribute to ALL law enforcement agencies???
But instead they choose to only contribute to 14 selected people (See below)

There is a report of a very bad crash at bypass 20 and I-39 going eastbound. Mutual aid was requested for an extra 2-3 ambulances. Please avoid the area if possible. This is still developing. We have a crew enroute to the scene.

Smoke investigation at 2441 Holmes St in Rockford. Caller was reporting the smell of smoke in the building. It was found the smoke was coming from a grill or someone grilling inside the residence. RS fans also contacted us saying the inside of the building smelled of lighter fluid and charcoal. It sounds like no one was evacuated from the building and there is no danger at this time.

A RS fan is reporting a car accident at Poplar Grove and Squawprairie Rd in Boone County. Unknown on injuries and number of vehicles involved at this time, but it appears to be a two car crash. Police are on scene. Traffic looks to be backed up, so please avoid the area if possible!

Possible house fire at a two story house in the 2600 block of Pacific Parkway. Smoke alarm is going off and smoke was visible, but the source is still unknown. Emergency personnel are on scene investigating. No flames were visible. Residents of the home were outside at the time of emergency personnel arrival. Still developing, please check back for more information.

A semi truck has rolled over on US 20 just west of IL RT 2(Main St). The driver of the truck seems to be uninjured. Both the left lanes going East and West bound on US 20 are closed and traffic is down to one lane going both ways. A tow truck and police are on scene. Please avoid the area if possible to ease congestion in the area. More updates to come.

UPDATE – 2:45pm: Illinois State Police have said strong winds blew the semi off the road, resulting in the driver to lose control of his truck and it rolling. The driver was not hurt.